A revision to hypertext markup language (HTML) should help eliminate ambiguities in document markup and make it easier to display web information on phones, handhelds and other devices. To create XHTML, HTML 4.0 was reformulated as an XML 1.0 application. The new standard was designed as the basis for a family of future document types that will make it possible both to extend and to create subsets of HTML. As the heterogeneity of both software and platforms rapidly proliferate, it is clear that the suitability of ‘classic’ HTML 4.0 for use on these platforms is somewhat limited, writes the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s working group responsible for XHTML.
There will be increasing use of non-desktop user agents to access internet documents, the group acknowledges. In fact, some estimates suggest that by 2002, as much of 75% of internet viewing will be carried out on alternative platforms. Content authors will no longer be able to assume that PCs can parse their ambiguously tagged documents. Without correct syntax, web pages may be impossible to read. In most cases these platforms will not have the computing power of a desktop platform and will not be able to accommodate ill-formed HTML as current user agents tend to do, the group explains. Indeed if these user agents do not receive well-formed XHTML, they may simply not display the document. á
